Mandrakesoft gives Linux the corporate treatment

According to Gael Duval, co-founder of the France-based Linux distributor, the two products -- MandrakeSoft Corporate Server and Mandrakesoft Corporate Desktop -- have been developed to make them "enterprise-ready". Both come with a five-year maintenance span.

Mandrakesoft Corporate Server was first launched in 2000, and then updated in 2003. This latest update, based on version 2.6 of the Linux kernel, comes with a selection of configuration wizards for setting it up as a file server, print server, Web server, directory server or FTP server. It is also compatible with IBM's database server, DB2.

Linux is already well-established in the server market, but much less so in the desktop space. Mandrakesoft hopes that its Corporate Desktop product can help bridge this gap.

"The problem of over-abounding sometimes immature open source software has been solved in this product through careful testing and screening of software applications. That makes Corporate Desktop immediately usable," said Duval.

Further details about both products can be found on the Mandrakesoft Web site.